Isaiah 66:3 He that kills an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrifices a lamb, as if he cut off a dog's neck; he that offers an oblation… The first part of the verse runs literally thus: "The slaughterer of the ox, a slayer of a man; the sacrificer of the sheep, a breaker of a dog's neck; the offerer of an oblation, swine's blood; the maker of a memorial of incense, one that blesseth vanity (i.e. an idol);" four legitimate sacrificial acts being bracketed with four detestable idolatrous rites. The first member of each pair is probably to be taken as subject, the second as predicate, of a sentence. But this leaves open a choice between two interpretations. 1. That the legal sacrificial action is as hateful in the sight of God as the idolatrous rite, so long as it is performed by unspiritual worshippers. 2. That he who does the first series of actions does also the second, i.e. combines the service of Jehovah with the most hateful idolatries. It is extremely difficult to decide which is the true sense. The words "as if" in E.V. are, of course, supplied by the translators, but the rendering is a perfectly fair one. The one fact that favours the second explanation is that the latter part of the verse speaks of those who "delight in their abominations. Unless there be a complete break in the middle of the verse, which is unlikely, this would seem to imply that the abominations enumerated were actually practised by certain persons, who at the same time claimed to be worshippers of Jehovah (cf. ver. 17, Isaiah 65:3-5; Isaiah 57:3-9). (Prof. J. Skinner, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog's neck; he that offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine's blood; he that burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations. |
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